Chapter 55: The Starlight Annihilation Formation

In the Refining Chamber of the Xuanyuan Cave Mansion, Zhang Xiao held a fist-sized luminous pearl in his hand, deep in thought. The Earth Pearl was a third-grade immortal material; at night, it could concentrate moonlight and transform it into the essence of heaven and earth. It was a rare treasure of the ancient demon clans.

Gazing at the attributes of the Earth Pearl, Zhang Xiao felt conflicted. He possessed a total of twelve Earth Pearls. If he fused all twelve into one and forged an immortal artifact, it was certainly possible. However, after studying the formation array left by Master Xuancang, he believed it would be better to use the twelve Earth Pearls to forge the Starlight God-Exterminating Array. After all, if he truly forged an immortal artifact, his current cultivation level would likely be insufficient to wield it, and he doubted whether he could even refine it.

The Starlight God-Exterminating Array was different. Anyone with Nascent Soul-level cultivation and practicing pure Yang methods could easily control it. Of course, it had its drawbacks—namely, it was extremely costly. According to Master Xuancang’s records, activating the array for one second consumed 30 jade units. If activated for a full minute, it would burn through 1,800 jade units. Given that 1,000 jade coins equaled 1 jade unit, and 1,000 jade units equaled 1 crystal element, Zhang Xiao realized he would spend a crystal element every minute. Thinking of such an enormous expenditure, his expression darkened. It seemed he could no longer rely on his modest monthly stipend.

After completing the forging of the Starlight God-Exterminating Array, he would have to find a way to acquire crystal elements. If all else failed, extorting some from Qin Shi Huang might be an option.

Having decided to forge the Starlight God-Exterminating Array, Zhang Xiao immediately took out various materials stored in his bone ring. Fortunately, though rare, he was well-stocked. One by one, the materials melted into liquid under his hands, then solidified into various shapes.

He remained in the Refining Chamber for over a month. At this moment, strange fragments floated everywhere within the chamber. Zhang Xiao used his pure Yang spiritual energy to meticulously piece these fragments together. This process could not tolerate the slightest error; otherwise, everything would have to be reforged, and the materials would be wasted with no chance of recycling.

As one corner of the array formed, Zhang Xiao steadied himself and cast an Earth Pearl into place, embedding it with spiritual energy. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief, cursing Master Xuancang silently for designing such a fiendish forging method. Were it not for his spiritual awareness being comparable to a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he would never have been able to seamlessly piece together these components.

Looking at the completed corner of the array, he relaxed momentarily but was immediately dismayed by the eleven remaining corners to forge. Though Master Xuancang’s jade tube inscription mentioned only seven Earth Pearls were needed, Zhang Xiao believed in doing things thoroughly. Having twelve Earth Pearls, he would use them all to enhance the Starlight God-Exterminating Array. The thought of its eventual power filled him with fervor. Lost in thought, he nearly misplaced two fragments, quickly regaining focus to carefully guide their assembly.

Time passed like flowing water. After three months, Zhang Xiao finally completed all twelve corners. With a tap of his finger, the twelve fragments soared into the air, rotating and joining to form a pitch-black, cube-like square. At this sight, a joyous smile spread across Zhang Xiao’s face. He had finally forged the array disk. Despite his remarkable spiritual awareness, such prolonged forging had been exhausting.

If not for fear that resting midway might lead to unforeseen accidents, Zhang Xiao would have taken a break long ago. Now that the Starlight God-Exterminating Array was complete, he exhaled deeply, too weary even to check its attributes. Hastily, he stored the array disk away and lay down in the resting chamber of the Refining Pavilion, falling into a deep sleep.

Yet, just as he drifted off, a strange aura suddenly appeared within the Xuanyuan Cave Mansion. The formations, the seals, even time and air itself—all came to a halt. Zhang Xiao’s closed-eye expression froze on his face, while nearby, Ziyan smiled faintly, preparing to leave the Refining Chamber. Silence reigned.

At that moment, myriad blue lights flickered in the void. Anyone observing closely would notice these points of light formed letters—bizarre, chaotic characters woven together but imbued with the feel of cosmic law. Suddenly, the letters parted to reveal a path composed entirely of data. An elderly man, barefoot, strode out from this road.

Had Zhang Xiao opened his eyes to see this man’s face, he would have been shocked. When he had entered Tiger Valley and nearly lost his life to the malevolent spirit within the Ghost-Headed Blade, it was this very elder who, in the form of a white-haired monk, had saved him. This elder bore an uncanny resemblance to that monk who had gifted him the Boruo Chan Sutra.

The old man walked beside Zhang Xiao, flicking his finger. The array disk of the Starlight God-Exterminating Array, freshly forged and stored in the bone ring, floated out and rested in the elder’s palm.

“Little one, you’ve progressed swiftly, but it’s not yet time for you to play with this toy,” the elder chuckled. He tapped the array disk, pulling out a stream of data, then casually swiped it, causing the numbers to scramble.

Only then did he nod in satisfaction, embedding the data back into the array disk. Tossing it toward Zhang Xiao, the disk returned to its place within the bone ring. Having finished, the elder nodded once more, and the surrounding space dissolved into a cascade of numbers. With a movement, the elder vanished into the data.

As the old man disappeared, the world resumed its flow. Zhang Xiao closed his eyes and slept deeply. Meanwhile, Ziyan, hopping excitedly, left the Refining Chamber to prepare some snacks for Zhang Xiao. The formations, seals, and time all continued as if uninterrupted.

The next morning, Zhang Xiao rose from bed. After washing and eating some snacks with Ziyan’s coaxing, he took out the Starlight God-Exterminating Array disk forged the day before. Looking at its attributes, he was initially overjoyed, but upon reading further, he was left utterly desolate.

Starlight God-Exterminating Array Disk: A supreme treasure-level array disk that, when deployed, can channel the power of the stars and heavens to create a self-contained world. Its power is proportional to deployment time, with a maximum duration of one hour. It consumes 3 crystal elements per minute. It requires thirty years of refinement with pure Yang fire to fully temper. During refinement, it can be used three times, consuming 5 crystal elements per minute.

Looking at the square disk in his hand, Zhang Xiao was tempted to smash it in frustration. He cursed bitterly, “What kind of junk needs thirty years of pure Yang fire to refine? Who do they think I am, that I haven’t seen a true treasure before? My Buddha’s Golden Wheel and the Five-Colored Cloud Banner are far better than this garbage.”

Having vented his anger, he could only accept the harsh reality with resignation. Comforting himself, he thought, “Well, thirty years isn’t so long. My lifespan is long; I can wait.” Just as he was trying to muster courage with this optimistic self-talk, Ziyan approached, bowing her head.

“Young master, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have let you forge the Starlight God-Exterminating Array,” she said, having seen the attributes herself. The actual energy consumption was vastly different from what she had imagined, and her remorse was evident.

Seeing her expression, Zhang Xiao shook his head and smiled. “It’s alright, Ziyan. This isn’t your fault. Perhaps it’s because I used twelve Earth Pearls instead of seven as Master Xuancang’s notes suggested. No wonder there’s a difference.”

Though Ziyan said nothing, guilt still shone in her eyes. Zhang Xiao, not adept at comforting, nonetheless felt sympathy. “Yian’er, write a letter to the Hong Sect. I need a large amount of crystal elements. See how much they can provide, and ask them to help me find a good Yin vein.”

At his instruction, Ziyan hurried to the study to compose the letter. Thanks to the teleportation array linking the Xuanyuan Cave Mansion with the Hong Sect, sending messages was swift. Soon, Shangguan Tianheng from the Hong Sect replied, sending a box along through teleportation.

In the letter, Shangguan Tianheng informed Zhang Xiao that he could provide up to ten crystal elements, no more. As for Yin veins, only the No. 12 region in the Americas, the Dead Forest, contained them. The area was swarming with zombie monsters, and at its center resided an 80-level lich, whose strength equaled the Divided Spirit stage.

Upon reading, Zhang Xiao opened the box to find ten crystal elements quietly resting inside. Pocketing them, he strode out of the cave mansion, transforming into a streak of light heading toward Region 12.

He had thought that with the Starlight God-Exterminating Array, he could rest easy. Instead, it turned out to be a money pit—a costly trap. Not only could it only be used three times before refinement, but each minute of use consumed five crystal elements—that was the equivalent of five thousand jade units or five million jade coins per minute. The thought of this staggering expense made Zhang Xiao ache inside, even tempted to raid the Maoshan Sect.

However, he lacked the courage. He recalled that the Maoshan Sect’s protective array used three supreme treasures as the array’s eyes—its power was no joke. Since the Starlight God-Exterminating Array was impractical, Zhang Xiao resolved to find another method, such as upgrading his copper-armored corpses to silver-armored ones.

Today, his respiratory tract was inflamed, and he felt a fever coming on, so the next chapter might not be finished until late at night. Dear readers, please do not wait up; the second update will come tomorrow morning.